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DoriangrayismePoems
- for the lake girl who is - - learning to read the tide- ------------------------------------------------------------ When you've settled for being wet long enough— the deep water starts to look like somewhere to go. I know exactly where my edges are. I have mistaken that for knowing myself. A cage also has well-defined edges. ------------------------------------------------------------- "Ice Queen." "Scaredy cat." "Control freak." "Overly cautious." All of those are dresses worn by something younger— something that needed protection before it had the words to ask for it. I see you. I have been you. ------------------------------------------------------------ The choice is always between the pool and the ocean. Contained: safe Great expanse: alarming There is no third option. Only how much unknown you can tolerate today. ------------------------------------------------------------ The anxious you that needed assurance and didn't know how to name the need. The avoidant you that learned to refuse the unknown and called it refusing the unwanted. They are not the same thing. That distinction is where you begin. -------------------------------------------------------- Not a place to arrive. A process to absorb. Some days you walk in to your knees. That counts.
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Mar 11
Mar 11, 2026 at 8:45 PM UTC
Untitled
- for the lake girl who is - - learning to read the tide- ------------------------------------------------------------ When you've settled for being wet long enough— the deep water starts to look like somewhere to go. I know exactly where my edges are. I have mistaken that for knowing myself. A cage also has well-defined edges. ------------------------------------------------------------- "Ice Queen." "Scaredy cat." "Control freak." "Overly cautious." All of those are dresses worn by something younger— something that needed protection before it had the words to ask for it. I see you. I have been you. ------------------------------------------------------------ The choice is always between the pool and the ocean. Contained: safe Great expanse: alarming There is no third option. Only how much unknown you can tolerate today. ------------------------------------------------------------ The anxious you that needed assurance and didn't know how to name the need. The avoidant you that learned to refuse the unknown and called it refusing the unwanted. They are not the same thing. That distinction is where you begin. -------------------------------------------------------- Not a place to arrive. A process to absorb. Some days you walk in to your knees. That counts.
Water as Movement: the first of a triptych on fear, failure and floating.
#water#edges#wanting#learning#refusal
Doriangrayisme
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Doriangrayisme
37/NB
Mar 11
Mar 11, 2026 at 8:45 PM UTC
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